Snow cone machine



Aug. 25, 1964 Filed NOV. 10, 1960 s. BERT 3,145

SNOW CONE MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR jamue/ B r) ATTORNEY Aug. 25, 1964 s. BERT SNOW CONE MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 10, 1960 INVENTOR ja/flue/ Beff ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,145,878 SNOW CON-E MACHINE Samuel Bert, PA). Box 7803, Dallas, Tex. Filed Nov. 10, 1960, Ser. No. 68,428 1 Claim. (Cl. 222-446) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in so-called snow making machines or ice shaving machines, wherein av block of ice is comminuted into thin shavingsor snow for use together with fruit or syrup flavoring in the making of a confection commonly referred to as a snow cone.

The principal object of the invention is to embody in such machines a plurality of dispensing containers for fruit, syrup or other flavoring, so that both the snow and the flavoring are readily and conveniently obtainable from the same machine for placing in a cup or cone, and so that the flavoring containers are kept cool by the snow in the machine, whereby the cost of maintaining separate cooling means for the flavoring and/ or the disadvantages of using flavoring at atmospheric temperature are eliminated.

In particular, the present invention relates to certain improvements in the structure and operation of the device disclosed in my co-pending patent application Serial No. 792,415, filed February 10, 1959, now Patent No. 3,000,189, dated September 19, 1961, of which this appli cation is a continuation-in-part.

With the above more important objects and features in View and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention will be understood from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of reference are used to designate like parts, and wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a snow making machine with cooled flavoring dispensers in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the machine with the dispensers removed so as to show the arrangement of the supporting bases for containers on top of the machine;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of one of the supporting bases, sump and syrup container associated therewith;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the same supporting base with a fruit flavoring container; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of another one of the supporting bases, sump and syrup container associated therewith.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the general reference numeral designates a conventional snow making machine or ice shaving machine which may be of any suitable type and which, for illustrative purposes, is shown as being of the general type disclosed in my United State-s Patents No. 1,700,819, issued February 5, 1929; No. 1,722,031, issued July 23, 1929; No. 2,477,474, issued July 26, 1949; No. 2,852,201, issued September 16, 1958; and No. 2,853,243; issued September 23, 1958.

As exemplified, the machine 10 comprises a housing or compartment 11 having a top wall 12 which carries a substantially centrally disposed receptacle 13 in which a bolck of ice may be inserted through a suitable door 14. A power driven knife assembly (not shown) is provided at the bottom of the receptacle 13 for shaving the underside of the block of ice and thereby comminuting the same into snow which falls into and accumulates in the compartment 11. The aforementioned knife is driven by a suitable motor contained in a casing 15 in the compartment 11 and the compartment is provided with one or more doors 16, through which the snow may be removed as required.

In accordance with the present inventionthe top wall 12 of the compartment 11' is provided at points spaced laterally from the ice receptacle 13' with a plurality of hollow, upstandingbases 17, 18, the bases 17 being substantially rectangular and disposed adjacent the'front of the machine while the bases 18 are circular. and disposed adjacent the back. As shown in FIGURE 3, each of the turned edge 21 as well as the upper edge portion 'ofthe base 17, whereby the adapter is'retainedin position. A' set of upwardly projecting members 24 are'provided on' the adapter 22' and are formed with curved inner edges 25 which function as seats for the neck portion of an inverted container or bottle 26 of syrup, the neck of the bottle projecting downwardly through an opening 27 in the adapter so that the syrup may feed into the sump 20 as indicated at 28 with a barometric dispensing action. A suitable gasket 29 is interposed between the adapter 22 and the neck portion of the bottle 26. A syrup outlet pipe 30 extends laterally from the sump 20 through a slot 31 in one side of the base 17 and the outer end of the tube is equipped with a suitable valve or faucet 32 located adjacent one of the front corners of the housing 11. The hollow bases 17 communicate with the interior of the snow compartment 11 and since the sumps 20 are disposed within the bases, it will be apparent that syrup in the sumps will be automatically kept cool by the snow in the compartment, whereby separate cooling means for the syrup flavoring are not necessary and whereby the cooled flavoring may be mixed with the snow without prematurely melting the latter, as occurs when fiavoring at atmospheric temperature is used.

As illustrated in FIGURE 4, the front bases 17 may also be used for supporting sumps, dishes or trays 33 containing fruit flavoring 34, in which event the adapters 22 and containers 26, of course, are not used and the outlet pipes 30 with the sumps 20 are substituted by the sumps 33. The fruit flavoring from the latter is dispensed by conventional spoons or ladles.

As shown in FIGURE 5, the rear bases 18 also communicate with the interior of the compartment 11 and each.

accommodates a removable sump 35 having an outturned upper edge 36 resting on the upper edge of the base. Since the base 18 is circular, the sump 35 is also circular and supports at the top thereof the inverted bottle or container 26a from which syrup flavoring is fed by barometric dispensing action into the sump 35, as indicated at 37. In this instance the adapter 22 is not employed, but a set of resilient straps or fingers 38 project upwardly from the base 18 and supportably engage the bottle 26a to removably retain the latter in place. The lower end portions of the fingers 38 are secured to the base 18 by suitable screws 38' and a suitable gasket 39 is interposed between the upper edge of the sump 35 and the neck portion of the bottle.

The sump 35 is provided at the bottom thereof with an outlet fitting 40 having a flexible hose 41 connected thereto, the hose 41 extending through the compartment 11 and projecting outwardly through one of the front corners of the compartment to carry a valve or faucet 42. Thus, since the hose 41 is disposed in the snow compartment, additional cooling action of the syrup is obtained, apart from that aiforded by cooling of the sump 35 itself.

It may be noted that the rear bases 18 which support Patented Aug. 25'," 1964 the surnps 35 are relatively low so that the outlet hoses 41 may be disposed in the compartment 11. On the other hand, the front bases 17 with the sumps 20 which have their outlet pipes 30 above the top 12 are somewhat higher than the bases 18. Thus, the sumps 20 in the front bases 17 do not project downwardly into the compartment 11 as much as the rear sumps 35, and thus do not materially interfere with access to the compartment for dispensing of snow.

While in the foregoing there has been described and shown the preferred embodiment of the invention, various modifications may become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention relates. Accordingly, it is not desired to limit the invention to this disclosure and various modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is:

The combination in a snow making and dispensing machine, of means forming a snow storage and dispensing compartment provided with a top wall having a hollow upstanding base formed thereon and in communication with said compartment; a sump to contain flavoring syrup having an open upper end, said sump fitting within and being removably supported on said upstanding base, the said sump extending downwardly into said compartment to maintain the syrup in the sump in a cooled condition; an adapter having an opening therein removably supported on said sump and base, the said adapter having an upstanding portion shaped to snugly fit a container for flavoring syrup, and a syrup outlet pipe extending from said sump through said upstanding base to the exterior of said compartment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,465,021 Nicolson Aug. 14, 1923 1,637,494 Marsh Aug. 2, 1927 2,465,142 Wisler Mar. 22, 1949 2,552,933 Browne May 15, 1951 2,734,347 Fischer et al. Feb. 14, 1956 3,000,189 Bert Sept. 19, 1961 3,044,277 Barnum July 17, 1962 3,045,719 Burks et a1. July 24, 1962 

